Into the Closet
by Misura
Summary: Malik manages to lock Ishizu and Shadi in a closet together. [ShadiIshizu]


Into the closet

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Warnings/notes: Shadi/Ishizu, silly, shortie, slightly ooc, minor AU in having Ishizu still carrying the Sennen Tauk.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

written at 22nd january 2005, by Misura, in reply to an Anniversary-challenge made by crsg which offered as a pairing: Shadi/Ishizu and as a virtue/vice: having a sense of humor

Note: Rather than 'Ankh' I used the word 'Key' here, because I felt it fitted the context better.

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There was, Ishizu decided, nothing particularly romantic about being locked into a closet together with the person for whom she might, possibly, profess a certain liking for that went beyond the camaraderie that naturally developed when people had teamed up together to save the world.

To be sure, if she had been given a choice, she wouldn't have picked this particular closet to be trapped in either. It was altogether much too small and, worse, Rishid had reported he'd spotted a mouse here a few days ago. Ishizu hated mice.

"Is there ah any chance that your Tauk might help us out, Ishizu?" Shadi asked timidly. Far too timidly, actually; Ishizu was as ready as the next modern woman to bash in the head of any male who dared accuse her of being less strong, smart or talented because of her gender, but ... the fact that she sneered at the stereo-type of the brave prince saving the damsel in distress didn't mean she thought that it should be the men who played the helpless, ignorant, brainless twits in situations of danger.

"No," Ishizu replied curtly. Then, since she could just -see- the look of hurt confusion on Shadi's face, even if she was barely able to make out her own feet in the dark, she continued: "It shows me nothing but darkness at the moment. Sorry."

"Does that mean we're going to starve here?" Shadi sounded more curious than afraid. Ishizu pondered this for a moment, deciding in the end that Shadi was simply more aware of matters of the spirit and the mind than those of the body. He'd probably be happy as a clam if there'd been a light and a couple of books for him to read in this place. Lucky for her that there weren't. Maybe.

"It just means that it's dark in here," Ishizu explained. "And that us getting out of here isn't important to whatever it is that sends the visions through the Tauk."

"Do you think so?" Shadi blinked, she could just hear it. "What an intrigueing theory, Ishizu. I'd never considered that there might be some sort of deity behind the Sennen Items. Or multiple deities, one for each Item, perhaps? And what would their relation to the two Spirits be? Would they know of them? I really must ask Yami once we have gotten out of here."

"Speaking of us getting out of here," Ishizu interrupted him, knowing all too well that once Shadi got warmed up a bit, he could speak on for ages about a given subject, "what about your Key?"

"I'm afraid I lost it as I stumbled over the threshold," Shadi confessed. "It's probably lying around somewhere on the floor."

Ishizu counted to ten. "Perhaps you could look -I mean, feel around for it? It's pretty big after all. Not something you'd miss very easily. Don't worry about getting your hands dirty or anything; Rishid cleans this closet thoroughly once a week." At least, Rishid -claimed- he cleaned every nook and crammy of the house once a week. And he'd better have been telling the truth.

"A good idea." Ishizu thought she could vaguely discern a movement in the darkness, but it might have merely been her imagination.

"Uhm, Shadi ... " The hand on her thigh most definitely -wasn't- her imagination though. "I don't think that's the Key you're grabbing."

"Oh. I'm terribly sorry." The hand was withdrawn abruptly. Perversely, Ishizu felt a nearly irresistable urge to say something sassy and flirtatious -along the lines of 'Don't be'- that would probably cause Shadi to go into a state of shock, assuming he wouldn't nosebleed to death first.

"That's okay. You can hardly see a thing in here, after all." Ishizu cautiously reached out to search the floor around her, finding no trace of the Key or -lucky for Rishid- any dust.

"Yes, that's true. I should have remembered to bring a flash-light." Shadi sighed.

"It's not your fault. After all, you only dropped by for a friendly visit," Ishizu remarked, feeling obliged to add: "I didn't bring a flash-light either."

"I suppose one can't, in general, be expected to be prepared to be shoved into a closet," Shadi mused. "It's one of those things that always come as a suprise, like love and the smell of burnt dinner."

Ishizu wasn't quite sure if she agreed to love being compared to burnt dinner, but she chose to let it slip, in favor of attempting once again to locate the Sennen Key.

"You know, I appreciate your gifts greatly, Ishizu," Shadi chattered on. Ishizu started to wonder if he might have a touch of claustrophobia; his voice did seem to squeak a little. "You are a most attractive young woman, intelligent, courageous, beautiful, witty, brave, smart ... uhm, just to say, I like you. A lot."

"That's nice, Shadi," Ishizu responded absently. "I like you too. You're very ... nice."

"Merely nice?" Shadi inquired, like a child fishing for more praise. Ishizu hesitated between thinking of that reaction as 'cute' and condemning it as 'immature'.

"I only wish we could get out of here!" Ishizu grumbled.

"Oh. Well, look at that. I just found the Key again." Shadi, Ishizu concluded, was an absolutely horrible actor. Good thing he was too busy saving the world and being a mysterious mystic to ever consider taking up an acting career.

"Great." Ishizu took a step into the direction of Shadi's voice. "Let's get out of here then."

There was no answer.

"Shadi?"

The closet was utterly, completely silent.

"This isn't funny!"

Rishid found her two hours later -or ten minutes, depending on whose version of the story one preferred to believe.

Shadi, too, found her, two weeks later, in front of the door to what he usually referred to as his 'humble abode', and most other people called 'that super-de-luxe mansion in the middle of nowhere', with a bunch of roses in one hand, and a ring in the other one.

When Malik heard the whole story, at the wedding-reception, from Rishid who'd had a little too much to drink to mind his tongue, he laughed himself silly. Until he realized that he now had -two- seemingly all-knowing and all-seeing relatives, both of them bent on keeping him out of trouble and on to the straight walk in life.

OWARI

A/N: The morale being that if someone you like asks you a question, it's better not to give an evasive answer, unless you enjoy being locked in a closet. And that yes, the old cliche about closets is true. And that no, playing match-maker for your big sister isn't the surest way to get rid of her meddling in your life.


End file.
